A WORLD record has been broken on a Riverina farming property at the weekend.
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Kiwi shearer Aidan Copp shore 524 first-cross lambs in eight hours on Saturday at Gnadbro Station, breaking the 14-year-old record by five lambs.
"It was a big relief to break the record because I put a lot of time and money into this," he said.
The 34-year-old had been preparing for the massive feat for almost a year. He was completing regular eight hour days as a shearer followed by 20-kilometre runs in preparation of the day he took the shearing stand.
"I knew I had the fuel in the tank to get me through the day," Mr Copp said.
But, Mr Copp was hit with a warning during the first leg, which put pressure on his shearing - or risk losing the record.
"The weather was a big issue. The cold meant the sheep did not shear as well as I would have liked. The officials gave me a warning. After that I was just thinking I need to keep it together and avoid any mistakes over the next three runs," he said.
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In the final stretch, Mr Copp said exhaustion and an injury almost got in the way - which he was able to overcome.
"I was throwing up on myself from fatigue. I was getting bad cramps everywhere, so it was really tough. I cut my hand quite badly as well," he said.
"But, I knew I could shear a sheep in 53 seconds. It was just a mental game, keeping up the pace and doing one at a time."
With the world record under his belt, Mr Copp has his sights set on another challenge.
"I want to get the Merino-wool record and be one of the firsts to have a record for every breed of sheep," he said.
Former world record holder Dwayne Black was watching the live action, supporting Mr Copp in his effort to break his 14-year streak.
"It takes a brave, courageous man to step up to the plate and do something like this. A lot of people talk about a record, but not a lot of people put it on the line," he told The Rural on Saturday. "It is time to move it on."
Mr Black said shearing takes a lot of athleticism and should be treated as a sport.
"The general public think this is the amount a shearer does each day, but this is more like the Tour de France or Olympics. He has been training for months, preparing the best he can," he said.
"On a normal day, an average shearer would get up to 200 of these sheep - so half".